Abstract

Photonic packet switches are important in telecommunications and computer communications because of their bandwidth transparency. All-optical multihop networks, which route payloads optically from source to destination, are a current research topic. An important building block, the 2×2 switch, must have the capability to route packets, resolve output-port contention, and in many cases reinsert a new header. Multihop operation typically requires that packets traverse an unknown number of switch nodes. Therefore header reinsertion must be independent of the number of hops. Self-routing in 1 × 2 switches has been reported.¹ Self-routing and contention resolution in a 2 × 2 switch with both input ports active² and with a single-packet input buffer³ have also been reported, as has single-pass header reinsertion in a 1 × 2 switch for ring network.^4,5

© 1994 Optical Society of America